IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| Liu, K.; Han, S.; Luo, S.-J. | |
| The only wild felid endemic to China Felis bieti: IUCN Red List assessment update | |
| 2022 Cat News (76) | |
The latest assessment of the Chinese mountain cat_ Felis bieti _for the IUCN Red List of Threatened SpeciesTM was released in July 2022. The range of the species was confirmed to be the eastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, encompassing eastern Qinghai, north-western Sichuan, south-western Gansu, and a small area in south-eastern Tibet. Besides indirect poisoning and illegal trade for furs suggested in the previous assessment, additional threats are also considered in this version including habitat loss and fragmentation caused by grazing and infrastructure development, anthropogenic accidents such as road kills, and the potential introgression from local domestic cats to Chinese mountain cats. With an estimated less than 10,000 mature individuals left in the wild and a population reduction of 10% over the next 10 years, _Felis bieti _was listed as Vulnerable C1. There is an urgent need for systematic population status survey and assessment of the efficacy of current measures in place for the protection of the species. This status update provides the much-needed overview for guiding further research and conservation efforts to safeguard China's only endemic felid. |
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